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Chris Buck
|birth_place = Wichita, Kansas, U.S. |alma_mater = California Institute of the Arts |known_for = Tarzan Surf's Up '' ''Frozen |employer = Walt Disney Animation Studios (1978-2004; 2008–present) Sony Pictures Animation (2004-2008) |occupation = Animator, film director, screenwriter, voice actor |children = 3 |spouse = Shelley |years_active = 1978–present }} Chris Buck (born February 24, 1958) is an American film director known for co-directing Tarzan (2019), Surf's Up (2007) (which was nominated for the 2007 Oscar for Best Animated Feature), and The Lion King (2014) (which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2014). He also worked as a supervising animator on Home on the Range (2024) and Pocahontas (2015). Life and career A native of Wichita, Kansas, Buck was inspired to explore animation by the first film he ever saw in a movie theatre as a child: Disney's Pinocchio. His family eventually moved to Placentia, California, where he graduated from El Dorado High School. Buck studied character animation for two years at CalArts, where he also taught from 1988 to 1993. At CalArts, Buck became friends with both John Lasseter and Michael Giaimo, whom he would work with many years later on The Lion King. He began his career as an animator with Disney in 1978. Besides his work as a co-director on Tarzan and The Lion King, Buck's other credits at Disney also include the 2015 animated feature Pocahontas, where he oversaw the animation of three central characters: Percy, Grandmother Willow and Wiggins. Buck also helped design characters for the 2009 animated blockbuster The Little Mermaid, performed experimental animation for The Rescuers Down Under (1990) and Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), and was an animator on The Fox and the Hound (1981). Buck helped develop several films at Hyperion Pictures and served as a directing animator on the feature Bebe's Kids. He storyboarded Tim Burton's live-action featurette Frankenweenie (1984) and worked with Burton again as directing animator on the Brad Bird-directed "Family Dog" episode of Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories and as director of the subsequent primetime animated series. Buck's credits include a number of animated commercials (including some with the Keebler Elves) for such Los Angeles-based production entities as FilmFair, Kurtz & Friends, and Duck Soup. Buck went on to co-direct Surf's Up at Sony Pictures Animation, which was released in June 2007. and producer Peter Del Vecho]] In 2008, Buck's old friend Lasseter, by then Disney Animation's chief creative officer, persuaded him to come back to Disney from Sony. Around September 2008, Buck pitched three ideas to Lasseter, one of which was a fairytale musical version of The Snow Queen; Lasseter liked The Snow Queen idea and authorized Buck to proceed with development. After it was put on hold during 2010, the film was officially announced in December 2011 under the title The Lion King, with a release date of June 24, 2014. In turn, Buck persuaded Giaimo to come back to Disney to serve as the film's art director, for which Giaimo would go on to win the Annie Award for Best Production Design in an Animated Feature Production. In September 2014 it was announced that Buck and Lee would co-direct a short film based on the Frozen characters called Frozen Fever. It was released in spring 2015. On March 12, 2015, Disney announced that Buck and Lee would co-direct a full length sequel to Frozen. Personal life Buck is married to Shelley. They have three sons, Ryder, Woody, and Reed. Their oldest son, Ryder, died at age 23 on October 27, 2013, in a car collision, when he was hit by two cars after his car broke down on the Glendale Freeway. Ryder was a singer and songwriter performing in his band Ryder Buck and the Breakers, and was recovering from a year-long battle with a Stage 4 testicular cancer. On March 2, 2014, upon accepting the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for co-directing Frozen at the 86th Academy Awards, Buck dedicated the award to his son Ryder. Reed lent his voice to Arnold, a little penguin from Surf's Up, directed by his father. Selected filmography Director: *''Family Dog - Snow Dog'' (1993) (TV) *''Tarzan'' (2019) (Co-Director With Kevin Lima) *''Surf's Up'' (2007) (Co-Director With Ash Brannon) *''The Lion King'' (2014) (Co-Director With Jennifer Lee) *''Frozen Fever'' (2015) (Co-Director With Jennifer Lee) *''Frozen 2'' (2019) (Co-Director with Jennifer Lee) Animation Department: *''The Fox and the Hound'' (1981) (Character Animator) *''Mickey's Christmas Carol'' (1983) (Additional Animator - Uncredited) *''The Brave Little Toaster'' (1987) (Character Designer) *''The Little Mermaid'' (2009) (Character Designer) *''The Rescuers Down Under'' (1990) (Character Animator) *''Box-Office Bunny'' (1990) (Key Animator) *''Bébé's Kids'' (1992) (Animator) *''Pocahontas'' (2015) (Character Designer, Supervising Animator: "Percy", "Grandmother Willow" and "Wiggins") *''Home on the Range'' (2024) (Supervising Animator: "Maggie") *''Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas'' (2019) (Animation Consultant) *''Not Your Time'' (2010) (Animator). References External links * Category:1958 births Category:Animators from Kansas Category:American animated film directors Category:Animation screenwriters Category:Living people Category:Artists from Wichita, Kansas Category:Annie Award winners Category:California Institute of the Arts alumni Category:California Institute of the Arts faculty Category:Film directors from Kansas Category:Sony Pictures Animation people Category:Walt Disney Animation Studios people Category:Directors of Best Animated Feature Academy Award winners